Them & Us

Money missed...

A Tory MP earns so much moolah moonlighting as a barrister that he didn't notice £400,000 entering his account.

Geoffrey Cox explained he was busy setting up new offices in the tax havens Dubai and Mauritius when the £400,000 came in. For this reason, he failed to declare eleven payments totalling £400,000.

As a result of the £400,000 oversight, he stood down as a member of the Commons Standards Committee.

But his former colleagues' only disciplinary action against him was to ask him to say sorry. For not declaring £400,000.

Four. Hundred. Thousand. Pounds.

...money missing

Meanwhile, 16 million workers will be worse off under the Tories' new flat-rate state pension.

53% of 43-year-olds, and 76% of 24-year-olds, will lose entitlements worth thousands of pounds over their retirement, according to research by the Telegraph.

MPs, on the other hand, will receive splendid pensions based on their career average salary. They currently earn £74,000 a year.

The Socialist calls for MPs to take only an average worker's wage, and campaigns for decent pensions for all.

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Mum's the word

Parents can be so embarrassing, especially if you're prime minster. David Cameron's mum - and now his auntie too - are campaigning against cuts in his home constituency of Witney.

Mary Cameron and sister Clare Currie oppose the Tory council's cuts to children's centres in Oxfordshire. David himself even disingenuously spoke against the council's attacks.

Perhaps you should stop ordering cuts, Dave?

While childcare centres disappear for us, in 2014 Cameron proposed a 20% childcare tax break for high-income families earning up to £300,000.

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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

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When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

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